Cloudy With A Chance Of Rain
by Sydella
Summary: Yamamoto and Hibari have always fascinated each other. 8018, one-sided 5980, slight 5927.


Yamamoto Takeshi and Hibari Kyoya have always fascinated each other.

Both still vividly recall their first meeting. Yamamoto had been eight years old and Hibari ten. While walking home from school one day (he had not yet developed an interest in baseball), Yamamoto saw something that caught his attention, and he stopped to watch.

Hibari was imperiously standing over a group of delinquents who were lying in a heap on the ground, like discarded pieces of trash. "This is what happens when herbivores make me angry," he proclaimed. "Do you understand?"

One of the delinquents raised his head and wiped blood off his face. "Yes, sir," he said weakly. "I, Tetsuya Kusakabe, take full responsibility for launching an unprovoked mass attack on you, sir."

Hibari sniffed. "Good." Then, he noticed Yamamoto and glared at him. "What are _you _doing here?"

Yamamoto, who had been observing the interaction between Hibari and the delinquents with an amused smile, now laughed and ran a hand through his spiky black hair. "I was on my way home. I didn't expect something so interesting to happen today. Haha!"

Hibari's already narrow eyes became slits. "This is not something that herbivores should involve themselves with," he hissed.

"Hmm, why?" Yamamoto tilted his head to one side. "I'm just being a spectator. What's wrong with that?"

"I will show you what is wrong with that," Hibari snarled, and began to roll up his sleeves.

A short while later, when Yamamoto returned home, he struggled to find a way to tell his father why he had a large lump on his head. "An older kid hit my head with tonfas" is, after all, not a very plausible explanation. He settled for saying that he had been in a minor accident at school. As his father fussed around him, Yamamoto smiled patiently and thought about Hibari. Meanwhile, Hibari sulkily traipsed through Namimori and tried very hard not to think about Yamamoto.

Six years came and went in the blink of an eye. Yamamoto grew into a popular teenager and Hibari isolated himself from the masses, deeming all of them herbivores. When Yamamoto tried to commit suicide and a breathless Kusakabe burst into Hibari's office with reports of a student preparing to plummet to death, Hibari did not respond and stared vacantly into space. He knew he should take action-a suicide would stain the reputation of his beloved school-but could not bring himself to do or say anything. _Do it, herbivore, _he silently challenged Yamamoto. _Take your own life. I won't have to be preoccupied with thoughts of you when you're gone. _A small part of him protested at his cruelty, but he ruthlessly silenced it.

When they became Guardians, Hibari made no secret of his loner tendencies, and the others unquestioningly accepted it as his nature. However, once or twice-perhaps many times-he found himself wondering if he actively distanced himself from Yamamoto because Yamamoto was kind and perceptive enough to realise that Hibari had chosen not to save his life when he was at his lowest, yet did not hold that against Hibari, and Hibari just couldn't deal with that. When the Vongola's influence became too much for even Hibari to resist, he compensated for his past mistakes in his own way, and Yamamoto, as always, understood the unsaid.

Time marched on. Yamamoto dated other people and Hibari remained fiercely devoted to Namimori. Things came to a head when adulthood crept up on them. Yamamoto paid a visit to Tsuna one day and found his boss talking on the phone. Waiting patiently for Tsuna to end the call, Yamamoto took a seat and grinned at Gokudera, who scowled and looked away, a blush tinting his cheeks.

Tsuna finally hung up (or at least, he appeared to) and beamed at Yamamoto. "Long time no see!"

Yamamoto laughed and tousled Tsuna's hair before retreating to a respectful distance. "Yeah, I've been away for a while. Did anything interesting happen while I was abroad? How has Hiba-I mean, how has everyone been?"

"Everyone has been well, no major incidents," Tsuna replied, accepting a cup of coffee from Gokudera. "By the way, Hibari has been asking about you."

Yamamoto did his best to hide his surprise. "Oh?" he said, hoping that his vague reply hid the sudden burst of happiness that threatened to flare up within him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gokudera watching him.

Tsuna scrunched up his nose adorably and Yamamoto had to resist an urge to tweak it. "He's definitely been asking about you, Yamamoto. You should go see him."

"Ah. Well, maybe I'll drop by his house when I have some free time." Yamamoto kept his tone light and casual.

Tsuna sipped his coffee and eyed Yamamoto over the rim of the cup. "Are you all right? You seem a bit uncomfortable."

Not for the first time, Yamamoto cursed the Vongola Hyper Intuition, and forced a smile. "Don't worry. Anyway, I still have work to do. See you later." He leapt to his feet, bowed and left.

Tsuna pouted and drained his coffee. "I wish Yamamoto could've stayed longer."

Gokudera folded his arms. "I respectfully disagree, Tenth. It's about time he started taking his work more seriously. He shouldn't be going around making social calls as if he has all the time in the world."

Tsuna glanced at him curiously. "Gokudera-kun, why do you sound jeal-"

"I'm sorry, Tenth! I just remembered that I also have work to do! Please forgive my rudeness!" Following Yamamoto's example, Gokudera leapt to his feet, bowed and left.

Tsuna stared at the door through which his two closest friends had just departed, then threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why are all of my Guardians behaving strangely?" Gingerly, he picked up the phone again and whispered into it, "Hibari-san, I think you know what's going to happen. Don't say I didn't warn you."

At the other end, Hibari sighed. "Duly noted, small animal."

While this conversation was taking place, Yamamoto was running over to Hibari's mansion. He ran so fast that he generated a small wind and attracted admiring glances. "Hibari-san!" he bellowed as he reached the main entrance to the mansion.

Kusakabe appeared and gave him a worried look. "Are you all right? You're out of breath."

Yamamoto doubled over, clutching a stitch in his side. "I…I'm all right. Where is he?"

"Kyo-san is in the living room," Kusakabe informed him crisply. "If you need refreshments, I-"but Yamamoto was already running away.

Kusakabe sighed and scratched his head. "I hope nothing bad will happen," he muttered to himself.

Yamamoto raced through the mansion until he arrived at the living room. Shoving open the sliding door, he was greeted by the sight of a kimono-clad Hibari, in the middle of a phone call. "Hibari-san!" he yelled again, and lunged at Hibari. Before the latter even had time to react, Yamamoto was on top of him and raining kisses on his face. The phone fell with a clatter to the floor.

Hibari made a few feeble attempts to push Yamamoto away, but eventually relented. "What's gotten into you?" he asked, but without any sting in his words.

Yamamoto grinned. "After I heard from Tsuna that you've been asking about me, I just had to come over and see you right away. You've missed me, haven't you? Say you've missed me. Go on, admit it."

Hibari smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yamamoto looked hurt, though his eyes twinkled with mischief. "You're no fun."

"Of course not." Hibari picked up the phone, murmured something into the receiver and gently set the phone back in its cradle.

"Who were you talking to?" Yamamoto asked curiously.

"I'll tell you some other time." Hibari stood and extended a hand. "Come on. Let's do something interesting."

"And what would that be?" Yamamoto smiled slyly as he took Hibari's hand.

"Oh, you'll see." Hibari smirked again, and they left the room hand in hand.

Back at the Vongola's headquarters, Tsuna smiled as Hibari thanked him and disconnected. Rising to his feet, Tsuna went in search of Gokudera to gently break the news to him, and perhaps offer him something more as well.


End file.
